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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. land — a country
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. snap — to click
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. land — to come down
  8. cap — a lid
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. swing — in golf
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. cap — a hat
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. land — ground
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. ball — a dance
  19. cap — of ice
  20. swing — to play on
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. swing — music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com